This is your call to get down to the sea to feel that cool breeze on your face, the soft sand between your toes, and to hear the gentle breath of the waves.
Jamie Coleman’s latest single Down by the Shore is the sensory break you needed. The song, overall, feels like a stroll towards the beach on a warm day with no agenda other than to take it easy until the dunes come into sight and the excitement of the ensuing relaxation leads to a quickened pace. It is reminiscent of Jack Johnson sitting happily on a beach in Hawaii, eating banana pancakes.
The song centres around Jamie’s silky voice and the refrain “Down by the Shore”. A bassy acoustic guitar riff holds the rhythm in the first half of the song, while sporadic reverb-heavy guitar licks bring the vibes, all set atop the much-loved natural sound of the ocean. The step up in energy halfway through, with a classic stomp and clap, feels like a celebration of those nostalgic days at the beach with friends and family. It feels like a whole summer in one song from the first warm days in May to the long, late evenings in August. There’s a general warmth in the song that has been expertly captured in the production, thanks to the guys from Beluga Lagoon.
Jamie’s already done loads of cool gigs with Ocean Colour Scene, Kyle Falconer, Alabama 3, and Seahorses, to name a few, and he’s worked with THEE Alan McGee, all of which makes sense when you look into his back catalogue. If I were a betting man, I’d put a couple of quid on Jamie Coleman for the leader of the Britpop revival.
